Broody Hen/Eggs questions!!

[PAChickenLady]

I have a Silkie that has been broody for more than two months now. I have ordered two hatching eggs for her to lay on and hopefully hatch. The eggs are coming on Monday. I am concerned because I have other hens laying and my Silkie will switch between nesting boxes to lay on which ever nest has eggs in it. I'm afraid she will inadvertently abandon the hatching eggs and lay in a different box and the eggs will die. Should I just let her do her thing and check on her more frequently? Should I construct a temporary cage just for her and the chicks and with food and water in it so she can't get to the other boxes? And if I do that, should I keep it in the coop since she only leaves the coop once a day as it is? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!

 

[OrpieLover31]

You should put her in her own separate cage intel the chicks hatch, then when they get bigger you will have to find a bigger cage or something... the adult chickens will kill the chicks if they can get to them! I don't think it will matter if she is still in the coop, as long as the chickens cant get in with her.

 

[heronz]

What I do is put a door with a tight latch on the nest box she is in.
Each morning.
I shoo all the birds out of the coop and let her out to eat,drink,and poop.
Except the ones in the nest boxes.
After a while she will get used to you're routine and even expect you to let her out.
The others will keep laying eggs in with those so you will have eggs lay on different days,and if she has too many a poor hatch.

 

[McGobs]

I used a small piece of chicken wire in gave my silkie her own little corner. I had the same issue...box jumping. Now shes in the same corner with her 4 chicks running around.

 

[PAChickenLady]

Well, it's done. My husband and I built a temporary cage running from one of our nesting boxes and going the length of our coop, so she has room to move around, but is still confined to a smaller space and a specific nesting box. My hatching eggs came today and we left her sitting on eggs from my other hens until we constructed the cage, then I moved her to the box with the hatching eggs in it. It's a box the hens usually ignore, but she settled right down on the eggs, so, I guess at this point, we wait to see if she will successfully be a surrogate mama to two Black Australorps!

Thank you all for your advice and hopefully in about 3 weeks or so I'll be posting pics of my new babies!!